


If Connor Were There: The Lockdown

by Hudstrige1



Series: If Connor Were There: [1]
Category: The Fosters
Genre: Anxious!Connor, Comforting!Jude, M/M, Taylor's annoying, but Adam's worse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 11:40:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10718652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hudstrige1/pseuds/Hudstrige1
Summary: What if Connor had never moved, never leading he and Jude to poorly break up? What if he never left Anchor Beach?Here's what would of really have happened during the school lockdown from 4x1.





	If Connor Were There: The Lockdown

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Make sure to leave feedback, regardless of what you thought.  
> If you want me to write more 'If Connor Were There' fics, let me know. And if you don't, you can demand that I stop but I can't guarantee you that I'll listen.

Jude Adams Foster didn't know what to think that very morning, when Taylor-a friend who he thought knew he clearly and oh so obviously just that, a friend-was heavily flirting with him in the Anchor Beach High school hallway.  
"Ummm...Taylor..." He doesn't exactly know how to address this.  
"You're a good friend, but, we've been through this before..."  
She snickers with disbelief. "Jude, come _on_. I've _always_ been there for you."  
Hearing that makes him frown. "Connor's been there for me longer..."  
"What makes you say that that? You think I'm trying to compete with Connor?"  
"Uh, yeah..." He doesn't see what else she could possibly be failing to do.  
This time she rolls her eyes at him.  
"I helped you Jude. I got you together with Connor."  
"Exactly...Thank you..." He blinks awkwardly.  
"So."  
"So..." He wants nothing more than to leave.  
"So I think it's about time you see what you're _really_ missing."  
" _Excuse_ me?" He cringes. "Taylor, I'm gay."  
"Just 'cause you like guys doesn't mean you don't like girls too." Her tone is full of offense.  
"Taylor, if you're expecting me to be bi, then how about _I_ just start assuming   _you're_ bi? You helped Daria when she got broken up with. You _owe_ her." He mocks, slamming his locker closed and strutting away with anger so strong that he ironically, cannot see straight.  
He notices Connor coming towards him from the other direction in the same angry manner, his presence calming his nerves just a bit.  
"Hey..." He starts, stopping by.  
But Connor doesn't seem to notice, or hear him.  
"Connor?" He asks, witnessing him walk right past him with a fuming facial structure.  
He's walked down and out of the entire hallway now, and Jude instantly blames Taylor for his intense distractions.  
"Did you say something to Connor?" He accuses, finding her stopped at the water fountain down at the start of the hall.  
" _No_. What makes you think _that?_ "  
"He's pissed off about something. I don't even think he noticed me."  
"How does that lead back to _me?_ Betcha he was ignoring you, ya know. Ever think that for once in your guys' relationship that _you're_ the problem, Jude. " She retorts.  
"Screw you, Taylor. At least _I_ can own up to problems I cause."  
"What's _that_ supposed to mean?"  
"You know _exactly_ what it's supposed to mean. Don't talk to me, Taylor."  
Again, he walks off.  
•••  
Connor walks into Lena's office to see Callie sitting in one of the waiting chairs crying, to what looks like Lena and her wife confronting her.  
They all look at him at once.  
"Oh. Sorry. I-I can come back another time-"  
"No." Stef gives Callie a tight look to which she responds with heartbroken eyes. None of them most certainly do not want to discuss this topic any further.  
"What is it, Connor." Stef tries her best to not sound more stressed than she's ever been at the moment.  
"Um, I need my files..."  
"Why?" Lena questions.  
"My Dad...He's sending me back to my Mom's..."  
"What?" Callie squeaks, more troubles falling onto her back because she knows it's going to negatively affect him and her brother.  
"Connor, we can't give those things to you personally. Your father will have to come down here and retrieve them." Lena explains professionally, but Stef gets right to the questions.  
"He's doing that? He can't do that, can he?"  
"Connor don't go..." Callie feels like she's going to have even more of a nervous breakdown.  
"I-I don't really have a choice--I'm sorry; I interrupted you I'll just-yeah..." He doesn't want this conversation being continued, automatically stepping out of the room just before Mariana hastily pushes her way through.  
"Oh. Sorry" she apologizes to him, fully stepping into the room and trying to ignore Callie's clear emotional state. What's on her mind is too important right now.  
"Has anyone seen Nick?"  
Declaring that it's not any of his business, Connor closes the door behind him and proceeds walking away.  
If only he knew about the tension going on behind that door.  
•••  
He walks into his first class of the morning late.  
Jude curiously stares him down, when Connor's slowly walking down the tight spaced walkway between each set of desks  
"Hey." He whispers, being sat down next to.  
"Hi..."  
"Everything okay?" He questions. "Where were you?"  
"Office." He wants to tell the truth, but for now not the whole truth. "Something wrong with my schedule."  
Jude knows he's currently fibbing, but also knows that he's doing it for protection. The scary part is that he doesn't know how much protection.  
•••  
After class, side by side back front and center in the over stimulated hallway, Jude chooses to find out what's really going on.  
"Are you sure things are going okay...?"  
Right when Connor looks at him, Taylor walks passed Jude with a scowl into his eyes.  
After she's gone, Connor furrows his brow.  
"Should be asking you the same thing..." He's puzzled, gazing at him for an answer.  
"It's fine. Ignore her. She'll get over it."  
"Get over what?"  
Jude feels that if he even has to explain the situation he'll receive a migraine.  
"It's stupid...She likes me again, or something." He shrugs it off.  
Connor frowns unhappily. "Oh...Well, it's not your fault you're so likable, Jude Adams-Foster." He teases, smiling in his direction.  
Scoffing with a smile while shaking his head in disbelief, Jude gives him a light push.  
In response, Connor flinches with alarm.  
Realizing instantly, Jude freezes with a softened facial expression.  
"Connor..." There can only be one explanation to why he's so jumpy all of a sudden.  
Connor's eyes have grown bleak. "Let's just not talk about it..."  
"Did he hit you..." Jude wants the truth now.  
"No...Not recently. He likes to make it look like he will, sometimes, though..." Connor's voice practically quivers.  
" _Jesus..."_ Jude whispers, making sure to touch his shoulder lightly.  
"That's why he...He wants me to leave." Neither of them wish it was so.  
"'Leave'-w-what do you mean _leave_..." But Jude knows exactly what he means.  
"To my Mom's...In L.A. He doesn't just want me to. He's making me."  
"'Making you'-can he _do_ that?!" Jude's in a clear display of panic.  
"He says he 'can't have someone like me in his own home anymore'..." Connor quotes him.  
Hearing what he hears, Jude's almost huffing and puffing.  
"This is _bullshit_! He can't just make you _leave_!"  
"Jude..." He whispers, taking his wrist in hopes of calming them both down. The first bell rings for second class.  
"Let's...Talk about this after class."  
"Yeah..." Jude's eyes drift away from his. "I-I'm sorry it's just-you don't deserve this." Eye contact is resumed.  
Connor flashes a weak smile, forcefully clearing his throat and moving the grip up to Jude's hand.  
"I'll see you at lunch, cutie."  
After a short hug between the two, they walk in the different directions of their classrooms.  
"Jude, hey." Taylor casually catches up with him.  
Before he can start his banter, she's explaining herself.  
"I was being _such_ a bitch, okay. D-Daria was just making a big deal about how I'm not going to the formal with anyone, and..." She trails off.  
"Oh...Well, I could take you. As a friend, you know." They stop walking.  
"Really? I thought you would be going with Connor."  
A lump forms in his throat. _'He_ _won't_ _exactly be here when the event rolls around..._ '  
"You okay?"  
"Hm? Yeah." He snaps out of it, looking back in her direction.  
"Um, I'm just thinking about taking you. That's all." He forces a half smile.  
Giggling, she fully smiles over at him. "Yeah. It'll be fun."  
"So, should I like, pick you up?"  
"Yeah!"  
"Okay," they both giggle, just as Daria suspiciously passes by.  
"Something going on between you and Jude?" She wonders, once she finds Connor about to walk into his classroom.  
Stopping midway, he turns before her. "No, what makes you ask _that_?"  
"I saw he and Taylor talking. Looked pretty flirty."  
" _What?"_ He cringes, unable to believe it. "You're lying."  
"Would I lie?"  
"Maybe."  
Daria rolls her eyes. "Fine. _Don't_ trust me. All I'm saying, is that I saw what I saw."  
The overly loud alarm is what snaps Connor out of his intense thinking.  
"What the _hell_ is that?" Daria looks up at the ceiling.  
" _Mom_! What's going on!" Jude has to yell over the noise, seeing Stef rush past him and Taylor, who already looks petrified.  
"Nick has a gun." She looks over at them. "Get in a classroom before you're locked out. Where's Connor?"  
"H-he went to his next class-"  
"There he is." Stef sees he and Daria frantically looking around in the near distance.  
" _Guys_! _Get_ over here!"  
Once Connor and Daria are pulled over, the four teens are speedily crowding into the nearest classroom with as many other kids nearby could fit.  
•••  
Whether the four want to be stuck with each other or not, they're squeezed against each other before the back wall inside the dark needed classroom.  
They're already aware of all the enforcement and concerned parents outside. Jude is worrying about the safety of the rest of his family; knowing at least all of them are on the property.  
Meanwhile, right when Connor heard the news about a gun, his entire body went on lockdown mode as well.  
Flashbacks about when he had mistakenly gotten shot in the foot by Taylor's Dad pop in and out of his mind. All the times he'd spotted a gun in Adam's closet, or the few time's he's been threatened with it in cases of 'discipline.'  
His chest heaves up and down, palms sweating and trying as best as he can to find comfort against Jude's left side, and Daria's right.  
"Hey, Connor it's okay..." Jude whispers, touching the back of his hand. "We're all going to be fine."  
"Someone has a f-freaking _gun_..." he stammers, failing to lack hyperventilating.  
"We just gotta stay put for a bit longer and things will be settled." Daria adds on.  
Connor gulps, attempting to stop his worried movements.  
The rest of the class is remaining silent with no obvious frights.  
Connor rests his head on Jude's shoulder.  
"I got you..." He whispers to him, touching his wrist.  
"What are you; afraid my Dad's gonna shoot your weak slow _foot_ again?" Taylor asks in a nasty inside voice.  
More than half of the other students within the room, and also the teacher in charge, roughly shush her.  
A Connor fragile almost cries at her words.  
"Taylor, what the _hell?_!" Daria makes sure to shout whisper.  
"We're in a situation like _this_ and you're acting this way?" Jude lowly calls her out.  
At this point, Connor's clutching onto Jude for dear life.  
"C'mere," he whispers, pulling him closer if even possible, and kissing his forehead lightly.  
"What are you doing?" Daria whispers, seeing Taylor trace some sort of symbol on the back of her hand.  
"When I get nervous sometimes I like to trace the cross on the back of my hand. To make me feel connected to God, stuff like that."  
Connor has to bite his tongue to keep from saying something.  
"Here." She traces it on the back of Jude's hand that happens to be holding Connor's in comfort, without asking.  
Connor frowns the entire time.  
"Umm I'm actually Jewish." He'll say anything to make her stop touching him.  
"Then I'll do the Judaism symbol."  
Daria chuckles, and Taylor glares at her.  
"I'll stop..." She announces.  
"No no, it's fine..." Jude says to Taylor. Connor can finally go back to what he should be worrying about, when Taylor takes her finger away from Jude's hand.  
"Jude, if we make it out here alive-"  
"We _will_."  
"Well if we do, it'll be nice to plan ahead..." He waits to continue.  
"Do you like, wanna go to that formal coming up. If we're not dead."  
Jude snickers. "I thought you wouldn't have wanted to."  
"Why?"  
"Well, you weren't really saying anything about it."  
"That's just 'cause I was nervous, I guess." He admits shyly, tightening the grip on his hand.  
"You don't have to be. Hell yeah we can go and we'll most certainly be alive." Jude giggles, Connor smiling at his positivity.  
"I thought we were going." Taylor just has to bring up.  
"What..." Connor looks at her with disbelief.  
"Oh, you didn't hear?" She knows how to get to him. "Jude said he'd go with me."  
"Yeah, as a _friend_. And only 'cause you said Daria wouldn't get off your back about the dance..." Jude says to her.  
"What are you talking about?" Daria asks. "I don't care. _I'm_ not even going with anyone."  
Jude recoils. "So you just made that _up?"_ He asks Taylor.  
"So, you're gonna go with her...?" Connor worries.  
"You said yes to me _first_." Taylor grills.  
"You _lied_ to get me to." He reasons.  
"This is so _stupid_." Daria complains, standing up and quietly moving over to the farther right side of the room with no one else around.  
This sends a pit in Connor's stomach. Taking one look each back at the two remaining with him, he let's go of Connor's hand and sits with Daria.  
"Connor..."  
"Hey. Give him some time..." Taylor puts her hand onto his shoulder. "In the meantime, I got you."  
Desperate for any kind of comfort, Jude looks over at her and smiles.  
Able to see from almost a twenty feet distance, but their dialogue barely audible, Connor fumes at their body language towards each other.  
"Do you think he's into her...?" He whispers quietly and with seriousness.  
Daria almost bursts out laughing. "You're _kidding_ me, right Connor? Jude is gay. Not bi, not _straight_ , _gay_. He's madly in love with you. Do you really blame him? You're a great guy."  
In the midst of smiling at her, Jude is too busy staring in their direction, trying to make out what Daria had said.  
There's suddenly a loud crash coming throughout the building, causing everyone to jump.  
Connor's first instinct is to grab onto Daria, automatically crying into her shoulder.  
"I don't like guns. I don't like guns..." He trembles, having her shush him calmly.  
"It's okay..."  
Unable to bear seeing the pain that Connor is currently in, Jude stands up and speedily walks away from Taylor, over to his boyfriend in need.  
When just inches away from each other, Daria gives him a concerned look. Connor is still crying into her shoulder.  
"Can I stay with him...?" He asks; Connor in such a troubled state that he can't hear correctly.  
"Yeah..." Daria nods, gently taking away Connor's face and having him look towards Jude.  
"Jude...?" He sniffles.  
"Hey, you..." He can't even begin to explain how guilty he feels.  
Daria pats Connor's back while standing up, before walking back to Taylor.  
Jude replaces her spot, bringing Connor into his arms and leaning against him.  
"Jude what are we doing..." He asks him.  
"I don't know...Being dumb."  
They both snicker. "Were you really getting jealous?" Jude smiles. "You _do_ remember I'm super gay, super gay for _you_ , right?" He grins.  
Connor has to stop himself from laughing too loudly, shaking his head and grinning at his doofus of a boyfriend. He shivers against him, humming something lightly.  
"It's freezing."  
"Probably because we're sitting below the air vent." Jude smirks.  
Laughing silently, they both look up at the vent on the ceiling above them.  
Another loud noise sounds throughout the school.  
"I'm gonna get shot again I'm _gonna_ get shot again..." Connor's back to panicking, shaking in Jude's arms.  
"No you're not. I promise you." Jude comfortably sniffs his hair.  
Connor finds the nerve to sit up, moving their hands closer together. He takes steady breaths, the lack of noise turning more comforting than worrying.  
"Do you really wanna go to that formal?" Jude wonders to him, now that they've calmed down.  
Connor doesn't know why he would ask such a question. "Yes...Of Course."  
Daria has to lock a hand over Taylor's foul muffled speaking mouth.  
"You know if I had to be in a scary lockdown with anyone, I'm glad it's you." Connor smiles with charm. Jude giggles at him.  
For the first time in a long time, their same pinkies intertwine.  
They squeeze even tighter together, when authorities are busting down the door and half the room is shrieking.  
" _Stand_ _up_ ; _get_ _in_ _a_ line _and_ hands _in_ _the_ _air_ _now_!"  
•••  
Because of course he is, Adam happens to be one of the many concerned parents crowding outside on the property.  
" _Where_ is Connor. Where's my son." He had pushed his way through the crowd just to confront Lena and Stef.  
"Adam, I can assure you he is in a classroom safe and sound with Jude and his friends-"  
" _Jude_?" He doesn't sound happy about that.  
"Would you rather him be scared and helpless than with someone he loves?" Stef asserts.  
" _This_ is how you run a school?" He puts the blame on Lena.  
"I'm only the vice principle, and this isn't the _main_ principle's fault either. This wasn't someone who just walked in; this was a _student_." She's not having it with him.  
" _When_ will this whole thing be settled."  
" _When's_ _it's_ _settled_."  
"We're doing everything we can, okay? You're not the only one with a child in there." Stef retorts.  
With no response, Adam hopelessly sulks back at the building.  
"Why are you suddenly acting so concerned when it's not secret that you abuse your child at home?" Lena couldn't keep her tongue bitten.  
"You're just gonna ship him off right after this anyway."  
"Where'd you get _that_ from?" He's scowling right back at them.  
"He _told_ us!"  
"I love Connor."  
"Yeah? Well _start_ _acting_ _like_ _it!_ "  
•••  
Walking in a straight line down the hall with all the other students being led by enforcers, Connor can barely keep his shaking and anxious arms in the air. Jude nervously walks in the line next to him; on their way out the front doors of the building.  
"Arms up!" One of the male policeman barks to Connor, seeing his weakening arms have loosened down to his sides.  
Flinching, he returns his sore limbs back into the air.  
"Don't _talk_ to him like that!" Jude raises his voice to the man, not liking how Connor's being treated.  
"Keep your _mouth_ shut." He's ordered by the same officer.  
The boyfriends exchange nervous glances.  
There's another loud noise coming from behind the lines of kids, whether it's one of the policemen, students, or the gunman himself. Either way, Connor takes off sprinting in the opposite direction, moving past enforcers to get to the nearest bathroom at the end of the hall.  
The rest of the students come to a complete stop.  
" _Connor!_ _Connor_!" Jude shrieks, already crying and body trembling with excruciating fear throughout.  
" _CONNOR_! Someone get him; SOMEONE _GET_ HIM!" He shouts to to the adults.  
"Voice low!" The one who's been starting tension, grunts.  
"Keep walking."  
"B-but-!"  
" _Now_! Let's go. _Out_ the school. We'll get him back once we know the rest of you are out of here."  
Jude makes it outside of the school with the other students walking with him in a physically safe manner, but most certainly in not an emotional one.  
There's a pit in his stomach and feels as if he'll be sick.  
" _Mom_!" He sees both Stef and Lena along with Jesus, cutting out of the line to hug Stef first. Hugging Lena second and Jesus last, he stands close to the three of them.  
"Brandon and Callie should be on their way out. They can't find Mariana. They assume she ran off on her own and couldn't be let into a classroom..." Lena explains tensely.  
"What? Connor ran off too. W-when we were being led out. He got scared and-"  
" _Oh_ my God." Stef's too scared to let him continue.  
" _No_..." Jesus whispers, the situation only intensifying.  
"Where's Connor?" Adam asks roughly, pushing his way over to the four of them.  
"He got away..." Stef whispers tenderly.  
"Well fucking _find_ him!" He growls, Callie and Brandon making their way over to the family.  
"We're here!" She yells, hugging Jude once he's in her sight.  
Hugging both their mothers and Jesus, she and Brandon gaze at all of them.  
"Where's Connor?" Callie worries, noticing Adam's presence.  
"He and Mariana are missing..." Stef's lightheaded, but grabbing the taser attached to her belt.  
"Nick's still _in_ there!" Brandon yells.  
"Where _are_ they..." Jude whispers, stomach and knots and blood moving at the speed of light.  
Callie brings him closer to her. Adam stares down at Jude, like it's all his fault.  
This has the boy resuming to cry.  
"That's it." Stef squeezes the weapon. "I'm going in there."  
" _What?_ " Jude asks, all her children present turning tense at the thought.  
"Stef."  
"I'm _police_! I have a right!"  
" _STEF_!" Lena repeats in a petrified shout, watching her in awe, sprinting across the lot and into the nearest entrance.  
"STEF!"  
"I'm _saving_ those kids!"  
•••  
Within one of the stalls of the first bathroom he could lurch into, Connor and Mariana hang onto each other, standing on top of the toilet seat together so that their feet won't be seen from underneath the locked stall door.  
"It's gonna be okay...I think. Oh, I'm _so_ scared." She whimpers, leaning onto his shoulder and holding him tight.  
"So lemme get this right, you were dating him?" He whispers questionably.  
"Yeah and I-I kind of cheated on him with this guy Mat-"  
" _Why?_ "  
"Things were complicated. I-I didn't think things would _get_ this way..." She cries.  
"Hey...It's not your fault." He assures.  
"Why would you run off? Jude's gotta be worried sick."  
"Your family's gotta be pretty worried about you too."  
"I got locked out I didn't have anywhere else to _go_. I get you were scared but why wouldn't you just _stay_ put?"  
"I wasn't thinking right. Just-all these incidents with my Dad started coming back to me-"  
"He's _still_ causing trouble?" Mariana's heard about the trouble with him.  
"Yeah..." Connor looks away and wipes a tear.  
"Wants me to leave. Definitely will make me after _this_ catastrophe is over with..." He's now at least holding out hope that he'll make it out alive.  
"W-what?"  
"Never mind...It's not something to talk about right now..." He regrets bringing it up, staring away from her.  
"We don't want you to go..." She sourly expresses, and Connor cries more from the love he's being shown.  
They hear the door open, gasps escaping from both their mouths.  
"Who is it?" Stef can tell that two different people are present.  
" _Mom?_ " Mariana can identify her own whisper.  
Connor's whole body relaxes itself.  
Mariana quietly steps down and unlocks the stall door, which Stef swings open for them.  
" _Connor, thank God_..." She whispers, while he's hopping onto the floor.  
"Have they found him?" Mariana hopes.  
"They think he fled the property. Either that or he's a really good hider."  
Connor gulps, and she has both the kids walk next to her. _  
"Is everyone else okay? Jude?"_ Connor hopes.  
"Yes Jude and the rest of the family are out." They're walking to the entrance, her arms around both of them for protection.  
"And so is your Dad."  
"Wait, what?"  
That was not something Connor was prepared to hear.  
•••  
Outside, everyone is still standing in place until Stef comes stomping outside across the lot, with Connor and Mariana in tow.  
Eyes lighting up, Jesus pushes an officer out of the way just to get to them.  
" _Guys!"_ Jude screams, blindly following him.  
While Jesus is hugging Mariana, Jude squeezes Connor so hard that he wouldn't be surprised if he's suffocating him.  
" _Connor..._ " He's panting into his shoulder. "I thought I was never gonna see you again. Oh my _God_..."  
"It's okay. I shouldn't have ran off. We're okay now." Connor kisses the top of his head.  
Adam still can't seem to understand, standing less than thirty feet away.  
"I _love_ you. I love you _so_ much..." Jude's still in Connor's arms, Callie almost crying at the sight.  
"I love you too..." Connor pats his back with both palms, letting him go.  
"And I love you." He hugs Mariana next, Jesus deciding to give Connor a hug of his own.  
"Hey, you okay?"  
"Yeah. I-I'm good, thanks." Connor whispers, Jesus patting his back and both of the hugs separating. They walk back over to the rest of them.  
"Connor...I'm so glad you're okay." Adam simply touches his shoulder.  
"Thanks..." He's still uncomfortable regardless.  
"Maybe now you'll let him stay." Callie can't keep her mouth shut.  
"Excuse me?" He crosses his arms towards her.  
"Callie..." Jude whispers, not wanting it to get worse before it can get better.  
"Maybe we should just get on the bus..." Brandon suggests. All the kids that won't be driven home by relieved families, are getting onto different busses and being transported home.  
"Can't we just all ride back together?" Jude doesn't want to separate from any of his family-and that includes Connor-right now.  
"I'll drive you home." Adam assists Connor.  
"No, I-I _wanna_ ride back with them."  
Adam frowns. "I'm sorry?"  
"Dad, I'm glad you came and all, I guess, but I'm not riding back with you. And I'm _not_ leaving them. Not now, and _certainly_ not for L.A." He pulls Jude close to him, their shoulders touching.  
"Connor I'm not asking you I'm _telling_ you-"  
"I could have died and _this_ is what you're worried about?"  
This leads to silence in the air around all of them.  
"Fine...Call me when you'll be returning home."  
Adam goes back to his car, and the Adams Fosters wait for him to drive off out of the lot entirely.  
Sighing of exasperation, Mariana looks at Stef.  
"Did they catch him? Nick?"  
Stef wishes she didn't have to say what she's about to.  
"No, honey...He's still out there."  
From what it feels like, Jude and Connor hold each other tighter than ever before.  
•••  
Connor hid himself against Jude's torso the entire ride home in the backseat.  
Jude rubbed his head, had not taken him out of his sight when watching him rest his eyes.  
Now outside on the lawn outside their house, Stef assures that all of them stay out here while she inspects inside 'just to be safe.'  
Again, Connor clings onto Jude.  
While intensely waiting when Stef is searching around inside the home, Jesus messes around with both younger boys, poking at them and nudging them with his shoulders.  
They giggle and smile, doing the same thing back and starting to do the same with one another.  
Connor holds onto both Jude's wrists, giggling when he breaks away and pulls on the back of their hand. Jude chuckles at the contact.  
Callie smiles at them.  
"You guys are crazy" Lena playfully whispers, and Jesus laughs.  
"Was everything okay this morning?" Mariana asks Callie.  
"Huh?"  
"When I went into the office this morning. You were crying."  
"Yeah." Connor remembers, perking up,  
All eyes are on Callie, who is nervously looking at Brandon.  
He furrows his brow and cocks his head, until he comes to the realization.  
Lena stiffly straightens her posture.  
While everyone else but the three of them are confused, Jude's mouth falls open.  
"Are you freaking _kidding_ me?!" He breaks loose from Connor just to shove Brandon.  
" _Jude!_ " Connor scolds, holding him back.  
"What the _hell_ , guys?" Mariana asks, while Callie says nothing with her lips pressed together.  
"Enough." Lena says. "This is Callie's business."  
"Yeah, and _my_ business too!" Brandon yells.  
" _What's_ his business?" Jesus pries, just before Stef comes walking out.  
"The coast is clear. You can all come inside."  
Brandon glares at both Jude and Callie, before being the first to enter inside.  
The two angrily watch him until he's no longer in their sight. Connor's still trying to put two and two together, not being the only one.  
Making sure that it's okay, Jude and Connor are left alone together remaining on the lawn. The adults said to come in shortly.  
"What was that?" Connor wonders to him.  
"It was stupid. I'm sorry. Just shaken up..."  
Connor takes his face and has Jude look at him.  
"We all are." He kisses his nose. "I _got_ you."  
"I got you too...I'm so sorry it was so hard for you."  
"It's fine..." Connor brings him in for a hug. "It's over now." He adds into Jude's skin.  
"He's still out there..."  
"They'll catch him." Though Connor still worries.  
"You're not...Really gonna leave, are you?" Jude asks after the hug's ended, Connor's arms now wrapped around him.  
"Hey..." He has their foreheads touch, voice talking in whispers.  
"I am not going _anywhere_."  
They share a long, sloppy, but do or die kiss. Their lips are moist yet dry at the same time, starting out soft and finishing roughly.  
Hands and pinkies intertwined, the happy couple walks inside their home.


End file.
